Open source 3D graphics drivers for ATI R600 garphics cards has been submitted to the kernel-next tree for possible inclusion in the Linux kernel 2.6.32. "David Airlie has pushed a horde of new code into his drm-next Git tree, which is what will get pulled into the Linux 2.6.32 kernel once the merge window is open. Most prominently, this new DRM code brings support for kernel mode-setting with R600 class hardware as well as 3D support."

My choice was based on the 8800 GPU being the best value at my time of upgrade. Sadly, the 9600 and later GPU seem to be tweaked 8800 boards until you hit the 260+ GPU chips. Nvidia's drivers have been good though and if Nvidia can keep competitive with the open source development rate then I'm ok with that. If they drop support for the 8800 boards without providing the community driver project specs to keep going; I'll have an issue.

I also hear that man of the Nvidia developers also work on the community driver in there spare time. It'd be nice if the company officially backed the project but having the same devs on both drivers is still a benefit.

Now, when my next GPU upgrade comes around, I'll be reconsidering ATI, Nvidia and any competitive boards but it'll still be who has the best performance and support across platforms. Maybe it'll be ATI by then, this is the first GPU I've purchased that wasn't from them but the flakey as crap drivers and addon apps under both Windows and Linux did me in with my last AIW board. We'll see how AMD's new open policy does before I give them my money again.